Biography of Singer Gal Costa

Gal Costa, stage name of Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos, was born in Salvador on September 26, 1945. She is a renowned Brazilian singer, having sold around 500 million records throughout her career.

Family and Early Influences

Gal is the daughter of Mariah Costa Pena, who passed away in 1993 and was her greatest supporter, and Arnaldo Burgos. Her mother would often recount that during her pregnancy, she spent hours concentrated on listening to classical music, as a ritual, intending for this practice to influence the pregnancy, making the child that was to be born, in some way, a musical person.

Friendships and Career Start

Gal Costa never met her father, who passed away when she was about 15 years old. Around 1955, she became friends with the sisters Sandra and Dedé (Andréia) Gadelha, who would become wives of composers Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, respectively.

In 1959, Gal Costa heard for the first time the singer João Gilberto performing “Chega de Saudade” (Tom Jobim/Vinícius de Moraes) on the radio. João had a significant influence on her career, and Gal worked as a sales clerk at the main record store in Salvador at the time, Roni Discos. In 1963, she was introduced to Caetano Veloso by Dedé Gadelha, initiating a great friendship and deep mutual admiration that endures to this day.

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Gal Costa’s Career

Debut and Recognition

Gal Costa debuted alongside Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Maria Bethânia, Tom Zé, and others, in the show “Nós, por Exemplo” (August 22, 1964), which inaugurated the Teatro Vila Velha in Salvador. In the same year, she participated in Nova Bossa Velha, Velha Bossa Nova, at the same location and with the same partners. After leaving Salvador, she moved to her cousin Nívea‘s house in Rio de Janeiro, following in the footsteps of Maria Bethânia, who had made a name for herself as a singer in the show Opinião.

Biografia da cantora Gal Costa

First Recordings

Gal Costa’s first recording was on the debut album of Maria Bethânia (1965), with the duet “Sol Negro” (Caetano Veloso), followed by her first single, which included the songs “Eu Vim da Bahia” (Gil) and “Sim, Foi Você” (Caetano), both released by RCA, which later became BMG (currently Sony BMG). In 1984, Gal would return to this label with the album “Profana”. At the end of the year, she met João Gilberto personally and participated in the I International Song Festival in 1966, performing “Minha Senhora” (Gilberto Gil and Torquato Neto), which did not achieve success.

Notable Releases

Gal Costa’s first LP was released in 1967, alongside the also debuting Caetano Veloso, titled “Domingo”, by the label Philips, which later became Polygram (currently Universal Music). From this album, the song “Coração Vagabundo,” by Caetano Veloso, became a great success. Gal also participated in the III Brazilian Popular Music Festival, performing the songs “Bom Dia” (Gilberto Gil/Nana Caymmi) and “Dadá Maria” (Renato Teixeira), the latter in a duet with Sílvio César at the festival and with Renato Teixeira in the recording.

In 1968, Gal Costa participated in the album “Tropicália ou Panis et Circencis”, with the songs “Mamãe Coragem” (Caetano Veloso and Torquato Neto), “Parque Industrial” (Tom Zé), and “Enquanto Seu Lobo Não Vem” (Caetano Veloso), in addition to “Baby” (Caetano Veloso), her first major solo hit, which became a classic. In the same year, she participated in the III International Song Festival (TV Globo), performing the song “Gabriela Mais Bela” (Roberto Carlos and Erasmo Carlos). In November, she participated in the IV Record Festival, performing the song “Divino Maravilhoso” (Caetano and Gil). She released her first solo album, “Gal Costa” (1969), which, in addition to “Baby” and “Divino Maravilhoso,” included “Que Pena (Ele Já Não Gosta Mais de Mim)” (Jorge Benjor) and “Não Identificado” (Caetano Veloso), all great successes. In the same year, she recorded her second solo album, “Gal”, which included the hits “Meu Nome é Gal” (Roberto and Erasmo Carlos) and “Cinema Olympia” (Caetano Veloso), generating the show “Gal!”.

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Crucial Moments in Her Career

Travel and New Influences

In 1970, Gal Costa traveled to London to visit Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, who were exiled due to the military dictatorship. From this trip, she brought songs that were included in her next album, “Legal”. Notable songs from this work included “London London” (Caetano Veloso) and “Falsa Baiana” (Geraldo Pereira).

An Important Album

In 1971, Gal Costa recorded an important double single in her career, featuring the major hits “Sua Estupidez” (Roberto and Erasmo Carlos) and “Você Não Entende Nada” (Caetano Veloso). In the same year, she performed one of the most significant shows in Brazilian music, “Fa-Tal”, directed by Waly Salomão, which, recorded live, produced the album “Fa-Tal / Gal a Todo Vapor”, considered by many critics to be the most important of her career. The album features major hits like “Vapor Barato” (Jards Macalé – Waly Salomão), “Como 2 e 2” (Caetano Veloso), and “Pérola Negra” (Luiz Melodia).

Recognition and Success

In 1973, Gal Costa recorded the album “Índia”, which included the hits “Índia” (J. A. Flores – M. O. Guerreiro – version by José Fortuna) and “Volta” (Lupicínio Rodrigues). From this album, another highly successful show resulted, also directed by Waly Salomão, titled “Índia”. In the same year, she participated in the Phono 73 Festival, where she successfully recorded the songs “Trem das Onze” (Adoniran Barbosa) and “Oração de Mãe Menininha” (Dorival Caymmi), in a duet with Maria Bethânia.

In 1974, Gal Costa recorded the album “Cantar”, directed by Caetano Veloso, which brought the hits “Barato Total” (Gilberto Gil), “Flor de Maracujá,” and “Até Quem Sabe” (both by João Donato and Lysia Enio) and “A Rã” (João Donato and Caetano Veloso). From this album, the show “Cantar” resulted, which was not well received by Gal’s audience due to its soft tone, contrasting with the strong image the singer had created from the tropicalist movement.

Success in New Fronts

In 1975, Gal Costa achieved immense success by recording the song “Modinha para Gabriela” (Dorival Caymmi) for the opening of the Rede Globo telenovela, “Gabriela”. She also released the hit “Teco Teco” (Pereira da Costa – Mílton Vilela) in a single. The great success of Caymmi’s song motivated the recording of the album “Gal Canta Caymmi”, released in 1976, which included the hits “Só Louco,” “Vatapá,” “São Salvador,” and “Dois de Fevereiro,” all by Dorival Caymmi.

In the same year, Gal Costa, alongside colleagues Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Maria Bethânia, participated in the show “Doces Bárbaros”, a group conceptualized by Bethânia, which toured Brazil and generated the album “Doces Bárbaros”. The album is considered a masterpiece; curiously, at the time of its release (1976), it was harshly criticized. Doces Bárbaros represented a typical hippie band of the 70s and, over the years, became the subject of a movie, DVD, and the theme of the samba school GRES Estação Primeira de Mangueira in 1994, with the plot “Behind the Green and Pink, Only Those Who Are Already Dead Do Not Go”, in addition to leading a trio elétrico during the Salvador carnival, performing in Copacabana, and a performance for the Queen of England. The album, which was initially supposed to be recorded in the studio, was recorded live at Gal and Bethânia’s suggestion, resulting in four songs recorded shortly before in the studio double single: “Esotérico,” “Chuckberry Fields Forever,” “São João Xangô Menino,” and “O Seu Amor,” all rare recordings.

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New Successes and Continuity

Caras & Bocas and Água Viva

In 1977, Gal Costa released the album “Caras & Bocas”, which brought the hits “Tigresa” (Caetano Veloso) and “Negro Amor” (It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue). From this album, the show “Com a Boca no Mundo” was produced.

In 1978, Gal Costa released what would be the first gold record of her career, “Água Viva”, which brought the hits “Folhetim” (Chico Buarque), “Olhos Verdes” (Vicente Paiva), and “Paula e Bebeto” (Mílton Nascimento – Caetano Veloso). From this album, the show “Gal Tropical” emerged, where Gal Costa made a significant change in her career, drastically altering her image from a hippie muse to a more mature singer. The show “Gal Tropical” was a massive success with both audiences and critics and produced the album “Gal Tropical”, in which Gal sang some of the biggest hits of her career, such as “Balancê” (João de Barro – Alberto Ribeiro), “Força Estranha” (Caetano Veloso), “Noites Cariocas” (Jacob do Bandolim – Hermínio Bello de Carvalho), in addition to re-recordings of major hits like “Índia” and “Meu Nome é Gal.”

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Impact on Music and Recent Updates

Recognition on Television

Since the 1960s, when the specials for the Brazilian Popular Music Festival (TV Record) emerged, until the end of the 1980s, Brazilian television was marked by the success of the televised shows, introducing new talents and recording record audience ratings. Gal Costa participated in the special “Mulher 80” (Rede Globo), one of those memorable moments in television. The program featured a series of interviews and musical performances focused on women and the discussion of the female role in society at the time, addressing this theme in the context of national music and the undeniable preponderance of female voices, with Maria Bethânia, Gal Costa, Elis Regina, Fafá de Belém, Zezé Motta, Marina Lima, Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, Rita Lee, Joanna and special appearances by actresses Regina Duarte and Narjara Turetta, who starred in the series “Malu Mulher”.

Discography and Recent Releases

In 1980, Gal Costa recorded the album “Aquarela do Brasil”, focused on the work of composer Ary Barroso, which brought hits like “É Luxo Só” (Ary Barroso – Luiz Peixoto), “Aquarela do Brasil,” “Na Baixa do Sapateiro,” “Camisa Amarela,” and “No Tabuleiro da Baiana” (all by Ary Barroso).

In 1981, Gal Costa debuted the show “Fantasia”, which was a major critical failure but produced one of the most successful albums of her career, both commercially and critically, the award-winning “Fantasia”, which brought several hits, such as “Meu Bem Meu Mal,” “Massa Real” (both by Caetano Veloso), “Açaí,” “Faltando um Pedaço” (both by Djavan), “O Amor” (Caetano Veloso – Ney Costa Santos – Vladmir Maiakovski), “Canta Brasil” (David Nasser – Alcir Pires Vermelho), and “Festa do Interior” (Moraes Moreira – Abel Silva). With the great success of the album, Gal invited Waly Salomão to direct the show “Festa do Interior”, which redeemed her from the major failure of the show “Fantasia”.

In 1982, Gal Costa recorded another successful album, “Minha Voz”, which featured standout tracks like “Azul” (Djavan), “Dom de Iludir,” “Luz do Sol” (both by Caetano Veloso), “Bloco do Prazer” (Moraes Moreira – Fausto Nilo), “Verbos do Amor” (João Donato and Abel Silva), and “Pegando Fogo” (Francisco Mattoso – José Maria de Abreu).

In 1983, Gal released the album “Baby Gal”, which also became a show, bringing hits like “Mil Perdões” (Chico Buarque), “Rumba Louca” (Moacyr Albuquerque – Tavinho Paes), in addition to the re-recording of “Baby.”

Originally conceived for the ballet-theater production of the Balé Teatro Guaíra (Curitiba, 1982), the show “O Grande Circo Místico” was released in 1983. Gal Costa was part of the select group of MPB artists who traveled across the country presenting the project, one of the largest and most complete theatrical productions, for an audience of over 200,000 people, in nearly 200 performances. Gal Costa performed the song “A História de Lili Braun”, composed by Chico Buarque and Edu Lobo. The show tells the love story between an aristocrat and an acrobat and the saga of the Austrian family that owned the Grande Circo Knie, which traveled the world in the early decades of the century.

In 1984, Gal left the Philips label and signed a contract with RCA, where she recorded the album “Profana”, which included the hits “Chuva de Prata” (Ed Wilson – Ronaldo Bastos), “Nada Mais (Lately)” (Stevie Wonder – version: Ronaldo Bastos), and “Vaca Profana” (Caetano Veloso).

In 1985, Gal Costa recorded the album “Bem Bom”, featuring hits like “Sorte” (Celso Fonseca – Ronaldo Bastos), sung as a duet with Caetano Veloso, and “Um Dia de Domingo” (Michael Sullivan – Paulo Massadas), in a duet with Tim Maia.

Continuing to embrace the engaged movements of the post-dictatorship and feminism, she sang in the choir of the Brazilian version of “We Are the World”, the American hit that brought together voices and raised funds for Africa, or USA for Africa. The project “Nordeste Já” (1985) embraced the cause of the northeastern drought, uniting 155 voices in a collective creation, resulting in a single featuring the songs “Chega de Mágoa” and “Seca d’água.” While praised for the quality of individual performances, it was criticized for the inability to harmonize the voices and the arrangement of each individual within the choir.

In a surprising move to many fans, in February of the same year, Gal posed nude for issue 127 of the now-defunct magazine Status, just months before turning forty.

In 1987, she released the album and show “Lua de Mel Como o Diabo Gosta”, which was a critical failure but introduced more hits to the singer’s career: “Lua de Mel” (Lulu Santos), “Me Faz Bem” (Mílton Nascimento – Fernando Brant), and “Viver e Reviver (Here, There, and Everywhere)” (Lennon – McCartney – version: Fausto Nilo).

In 1988, Gal recorded the song “Brasil” (Cazuza – Nilo Romero – George Israel) with great success for the opening of the Rede Globo soap opera, “Vale Tudo”.

In 1990, she recorded the album “Plural”, which included the hits “Alguém Me Disse” (Jair Amorim – Evaldo Gouveia), “Nua Idéia” (João Donato – Caetano Veloso), and “Cabelo” (Jorge Benjor – Arnaldo Antunes).

In 1992, she released the album “Gal”, with a repertoire largely taken from the show “Plural”, which included the hit “Caminhos Cruzados” (Tom Jobim – Newton Mendonça).

In 1994, Gal Costa reunited with Gil, Caetano, and Bethânia at the Mangueira samba school for the show “Doces Bárbaros na Mangueira”, which celebrated the 18 years of the Doces Bárbaros.

In 1994, Gal released the award-winning album “O Sorriso do Gato de Alice”, produced by Arto Lindsay, featuring the hit “Nuvem Negra” (Djavan). This album also led to a show of the same name, directed by Gerald Thomas, which sparked controversy as Gal performed “Brasil” with her breasts exposed.

In 1995, she released “Mina D’água do Meu Canto”, featuring only compositions by Chico Buarque and Caetano Veloso, and from which the song “Futuros Amantes” (Chico Buarque) became a hit.

In 1997, she recorded the CD “Acústico MTV”, a sales success, where she sang several hits from her career and released a new version of “Lanterna dos Afogados”, performing alongside the song’s author, Herbert Vianna.

In 1998, Gal Costa recorded the CD “Aquele Frevo Axé”, featuring the hit “Imunização Racional (Que Beleza)” (Tim Maia).

In 1999, she released a double live album, “Gal Costa Canta Tom Jobim Ao Vivo”, realizing the maestro’s project, which aimed to create an album with the singer, albeit solo.

In 2001, she recorded the CD “Gal de Tantos Amores”, featuring the song “Caminhos do Mar” (Dorival Caymmi, Danilo Caymmi, and Dudu Falcão). That same year, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Carnegie Hall, being the only Brazilian singer to participate in the Hall, after her appearance in the show “40 Years of Bossa Nova”, in tribute to Tom Jobim, alongside César Camargo Mariano and other artists.

In 2002, she released the CD “Bossa Tropical”, which included the track “Socorro” (Alice Ruiz and Arnaldo Antunes), a hit originally recorded by singer Cássia Eller.

In 2003, Gal released the CD “Todas as Coisas e Eu”, featuring classics of MPB, such as “Nossos Momentos” (Haroldo Barbosa – Luis Reis), which became a hit.

In 2005, she released the CD “Hoje” through the label Trama, produced by César Camargo Mariano, where Gal compiled various new songs from lesser-known composers, with “Mar e Sol” (Carlos Rennó and Lokua Kanza) standing out.

In 2006, Gal Costa held a season at the Blue Note in New York, a show that was recorded and released in September as the CD “Gal Costa Live At The Blue Note”, originally launched in the United States and Japan, and only in 2007 in Brazil. Also in 2006, she released the CD and DVD “Gal Costa Ao Vivo” through the Trama label, recorded during the season of the show “Hoje”.

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Updates until 2025

Recent Releases

In 2022, Gal Costa released the album “A Música em Mim”, which features a new interpretation of classics from MPB, as well as new compositions. The album was critically acclaimed and further solidified her legacy in Brazilian music.

Celebration of Anniversary

In 2023, Gal celebrated her 78 years with a special tour that revisited her career, showcasing hits that marked her five decades of trajectory. The tour was a great success, with sold-out shows in various cities across Brazil.

Festival Participation

Also in 2023, Gal participated in various music festivals, including the Festival de Inverno de Garanhuns, where her performance was one of the highlights of the event. The show was a celebration of her rich career and the impact she had on Brazilian popular music.

Homage and Recognition

In 2024, Gal Costa was honored at the Brazilian Music Award, receiving the Best Singer award for her body of work. The ceremony highlighted her influence and contribution to Brazilian music over the years.

New Collaborations

In 2025, Gal continued her tour and announced a new collaboration with other major MPB artists, promising an album that will gather new compositions and interpretations of classics. Anticipation is high among fans and critics, who await yet another masterpiece from the iconic singer.

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Musical Influences

Gal Costa was influenced by a variety of musical styles, including bossa nova, tropicália, rock, and jazz, which helped shape her eclectic and innovative style. Artists like João Gilberto, Elis Regina, and Jimi Hendrix were some of her main inspirations.

Awards and Recognitions

Throughout her career, Gal Costa has received numerous awards, including the Latin Grammy for Best Brazilian Popular Music Album and several awards from the APCA (São Paulo Association of Art Critics). Her work has been recognized both nationally and internationally.

Cultural and Social Impact

Gal Costa was an active voice during the period of the military dictatorship in Brazil, using her music to express resistance and comment on social issues. Her songs often addressed themes of freedom, love, and feminine identities, making her an icon of feminism.

Collaborations

Gal Costa has collaborated with many renowned artists, such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, and Maria Bethânia. These collaborations often resulted in memorable albums and shows that enriched Brazilian popular music.

Legacy and Influence

Gal Costa’s legacy is immense, influencing generations of artists who followed her. Her ability to blend different styles and her striking stage presence have made her one of the most iconic figures in Brazilian music. Contemporary artists often cite Gal as one of their main influences.

Discography

Gal Costa’s discography is extensive and includes notable albums such as:

• “Gal Costa” (1969)
• “Cantar” (1974)
• “Água Viva” (1978)
• “Profana” (1984)
• “O Sorriso do Gato de Alice” (1994)
• “A Música em Mim” (2022)

With a career full of successes and innovations, Gal Costa remains one of the most important figures in Brazilian music, influencing new generations of artists and enchanting audiences with her unmistakable voice and striking presence.

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